It’s that crazy time of the year again, where the chaos, out of routine, summer fun is coming to an end, and school is starting up again! Depending on your season of life, this time of year brings many types of emotions. Maybe you’re ready for the routine of taking the kids to school and heading off to work, or maybe you’re sad that the summer passed too quickly. Or, maybe you don’t have any kids at home and the buzz of school reminds you that fall is coming and gives you a little excitement and refreshment.

Whether you have small babies at home, kids off to school, or entering retirement, the truth is we were all made for community with other people. All people, in all places, for all time were made for

relationship; it’s engrained in who we are. But, even more so God calls his people together, calls us the Church, and gathers and sends us out together.

I have a feeling that among many Christians there is a lingering question, “Do we actually need each other?” and if so, “Why?” If you’re anything like me, there are a lot of things I can do on my own.” Sure, I can read my Bible in my own personal quiet time, I can pray or journal, and I can even serve and do a good deed. Those are good and right things to do, but if we are always doing them alone, how do we know if we are actually growing in Christ?

God is not nearly as interested in what we do as we are. In fact, he is very interested in who we are. The truth is, if what we do is only shaped by our isolated selves, then who we are will ultimately be a more sophisticated image of ourselves, not of Christ. Because we are sinful and selfish by nature, we will never be able to see ourselves truly, and that’s why we need other people.

In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul shares a foundational truth about community that we desperately need to hear:

“Rather, speaking truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, in Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, make the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16).

Right before these verses, Paul reminds the believers that when Christ came, he actually gave “gifts” to the church: apostles, prophets, evangelists, etc. What he is saying is that Christ gave the church one another, so that “we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves…” (4:14). Paul reminds us that not only do we need one another, but it is actually Christ’s gracious gift to give us one another. We can try and do everything on our own to grow in Christ, but Paul reminds us that we need people “speaking truth in love” into our lives, so that we can grow up in every way into Christ.

Think on this for a moment: Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever been doing a bible study on your own and feeling the tug of the world pulling you away? How many times have you committed to start that study or to start praying each morning, but your commitment swayed to and fro like the waves? I know I have! None of us are strong enough on our own; not apart from oneanother, and certainly not apart from Christ.

So, I want to encourage and challenge you.

If you’re not in community, ask yourself “why?” Are you growing weary trying to follow Christ alone, carry all your own burdens, and constantly tossing to and fro by the waves of the world? Then, consider joining a LifeGroup this fall, not because it checks off a box, but because God made you for community and it is his gift of grace to us!

If you

’re already in a LifeGroup, do you view your community like this? Do you speak truth in love to one another? Do you allow people into your life to help you grow up into Christ? Do you view one another as the gift of grace that they are?

Wherever you are in this journey, I pray that you would consider the gift of community afresh and pursue it as God has laid out for us in his Word!

Click here for more information about joining a LifeGroup this fall: https://goo.gl/forms/9ki4yKVq6WqrsZNF2

Jesus was crucified, he suffered, and while there is hope in the resurrection we can never lose sight of what He did for us on the cross.
This year, we will be offering a special observance of Jesus’ death on Good Friday (March 30th) at 7:00pm through various *home groups.
Each group will gather, fellowship, and hear a recorded reenactment of Christ’s final moments leading up to His death and burial. There will be worship and and an opportunity to participate in communion as well. We welcome children to participate at the discretion of their parents. Child care options will be available within certain groups. Please sign up today to join a group and be a part of this holy experience with your church family.

* While many LifeGroups will be participating, this event is not limited to people who are in LifeGroups. EVERYONE is invited! Please sign up to be placed in a host home near you!

I was nervous. We had just kicked off our LifeGroup several weeks prior with two new families, one of which had never been in any sort of small group. Inside I was filled with fear: what if this ruins our group… what if everyone stops coming… Talking about generosity and money is HARD, and honestly it was the last subject I would want to study in our LifeGroup. But, there we were; entering into a new study in our LifeGroups, and I could feel God continually walking with me, calming all my nerves and asking me to trust him in a way I hadn’t before.

Side note: I think as leaders we often want to keep people from encountering things that might make them uncomfortable, because inside I think we are afraid it will make us uncomfortable (I know it was for me).

So we jumped in! The five weeks of our LifeGroup going through the Beyond curriculum was honest, raw, challenging, and healing. It was different for everyone because we were all in a different place.

Here are just a few examples of the way God shaped some of us in our LifeGroup throughout this season: On the last week of our study, we talked about how we have grown or changed through this series, and to my (sobering) surprise, the stories came spilling out. One member shared that her whole life she gave to her church because that’s what her parents told her to do; she said, “I did it for me.” She explained that it wasn’t until this study, when we opened up and studied the Bible that she realized giving is about God! For another family in our group, the talk of money raised red flags and walls because of the pain and hurt they had experienced in a former church. They said initially, their first instinct was to run away and throw in the towel. But, God was beckoning their hearts to stay, and at the end of the series, as we were reflecting, they commented on how healing this season had been to them. What a beautiful testimony! These are just two stories, but I can honestly say, I was blown away. I was brought to tears. I was humbled.

My fears said, “It could be so bad,” but God said, “Trust me!” God showed me that I would have missed out on seeing HIS glory, if I would have run away with my fears. Fear could have stolen this beautiful and sanctifying opportunity from all of us to grow in ways we didn’t know we needed. Alone, I could have found a million reasons why I didn’t need to talk about generosity, but together we gave each other a safe place to learn, grow and heal.